Stylebook
Here is language advice and tips for writers and editors. A ;affordable *Almost everything is affordable to someone. Replace with low-cost or lower-cost if that is what you mean. ;accused, alleged *Potentially libelous in a construction such as alleged killer. One option is who is accused of killing ... ;arrested for *Potentially libelous. One option is who was charged with ... ;attitude *Some attitudes are positive and some are negative. But the only people who don’t have an attitude are comatose. C ;cliches See separate page. ;comma *Use to indicate a pause. *Use commas or other appropriate punctuation on both sides of nonessential clauses and appositives. Examples: **''The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks killed about 3,000 people.'' **''Acapulco, Guerrero, is a city and major sea port.'' **''Charles, Prince of Wales, weds Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now known as the Duchess of Cornwall. ;condo *Slang. Spell out as condominium. ;could care less *Incorrect. *Correct: couldn't care less ;could of *Incorrect. *Correct: could've or could have. ;crisis proportions *Redundant. ;crisis situation *Redundant. E ;early-morning hours *Redundant ;elementary *This is an adjective. A child may go to an elementary school, but not an elementary, or even Joe Schmuckattelli Memorial Elementary. ;emergency situation *Redundant. ;entities *Limp word. Agencies or organizations is better. ;epidemic proportions Redundant. ;exclamation point *Rarely appropriate in newswriting. ;expected *If something is expected, indicate who expects it. F ;facility, structure *Limp words. Better: building, campus, or center. ;fatality, fatalities *''Death'' or deaths is more concise. ;false range *A range can be indicated by from ... to ... If the items listed do not form a continuum, it is a false range, and should be rewritten. *Examples: A to Z is a true range. Diapers to tools is a false range; there is nothing that would obviously come between them. ;first *See "superlatives." ;forces *See troops. ;from ... to *See false range. G-N ;general consensus *Redundant. ;gonna *This is not a word! It should only rarely be used in print. The argument "We don’t change quotes" is a misapplication of a basic principle. The key is that it’s not a matter of meaning, but enunciation. Do we record all instances of nonstandard enunciation? "I dunno." ;hours *Often redundant, as in "early-morning hours." ;in color *As in "The suspect fled in a car that was blue in color." What else would it be, blue in weight? Just say "a blue car." ;kick off, kicked off, kicking off *Trite when used figuratively. ;launch, launched, launching *Trite when used figuratively. ;last *See "superlatives." ;months *See "(season) months." ;most *See "superlatives." ;newest *See "superlatives." O-R ;(season) months *Why not just say "winter" or whatever? ;old adage *Redundant. ;oldest *See "superlatives." ;on the ground *Often adds little or no meaning. ;only #See "superlatives." #Beware of improper placement. ;parent *In the singular, this is nonconversational. People refer to a group of parents in general or an individual's parents, but no one ever says, "Meet my parent." ;quotes *Do not clean up grammar in quotes. Paraphrase if needed. ;rain showers *Redundant. ;relationship *A hermit could be "in a relationship," although he would likely relate to the forest instead of a romantic partner. In other words, probably everyone is "in a relationship." ;relocate *Limp word. Move is shorter and usually better. ;rolled out, rolling out, roll out *Trite. Introduce, release or start are often better. S ;said Most neutral form of attribution. ;slang *Usually not appropriate in formal writing. ;slash (/) *OK as part of a proper name, Web address or other appropriate computer context. Otherwise, replace it. Try and, or or at least a hyphen. Replace and/or with xxx, yyy or both" or "xxx, yyy, zzz or a combination." ;so-called *Use only to show doubt. ;solutions *Business buzzword. Tells readers little or nothing. ;strangled to death *Redundant. ;structure *See ''facility. ;substance *If drugs or alcohol is meant, that should be specified. (If I abused mayonnaise, would you send me to a "substance abuse" counselor?) ;sued for *Potentially libelous. One option is "sued and charged with ..." ;superlatives *Beware of superlatives and absolutes. It is often difficult to know or verify whether something is the only, first, last, newest, oldest, or most put-any-adjective-here. ;suspected *Potentially libelous in a construction such as "suspected killer." One option is "who is suspected of killing ..." ;sworn affidavit *Redundant. T-Z ;titles *Capitalize formal titles when used before a name. Formal titles are those that a person could be addressed with, either before the name or instead of the name. ;troops *As a noun, this means "units of people." In Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, it’s specific. In a military context, "40,000 troops" does not mean "40,000 soldiers." *Even if used correctly in a military story, it’s usually too broad to be meaningful. A troop or unit might range in size from a fire team (four people) to a division in the U.S. Marine Corps (one-third of the Marines’ active-duty infantry, plus I don’t know what else). ;tux *Slang. Spell out tuxedo. ;veggies *Slang. Spell out vegetables. ;wait on *This means serve. It is not the same as wait for. Sources and other external links *Grammar Wikia *Overused and Misused, compiled by Neil Holdway with help from editors and reporters at the Daily Herald of suburban Chicago; via ACES Midwest Chapter. *Wikipedia category Category:Editing